SAN FRANCISCO—The San Francisco Public Library has reinvented its Dial-A-Story Program, making a digital comeback in the current pandemic-impacted society. This video storytelling series has allowed the library to continue educational programs for homebound young children, despite the library’s closure to the public due to the pandemic.
According to Yahoo News, the San Francisco Public Library started the Dial-A-Story program in 1972 in accordance with many other North American libraries. The thought was that anyone interested could dial a phone number to hear alternating children’s stories read by rotating librarians. The program continued for a few decades, but it fell out of favor as times changed. Ultimately, the SF library quietly shut down Dial-A-Story in 2018.
The reinvented program, called Sweet Stories, resumed this April following a month of planning, identifying stories and eliciting permission from book publishers. In its first couple months, Sweet Stories has presented 38 books via video in English, Spanish, and Mandarin. The project, overseen by Maricela Leon-Barrera, the library’s early learning coordinator, also has had some special guest readers such as San Francisco Mayor London Breed.
Sweet Stories is broadcast live on YouTube and IGTV (Instagram TV) Monday through Friday at 2 p.m. and Saturdays at 10 a.m. To date, 4,047 people have viewed the stories via YouTube, and approximately 400-600 people have viewed each story on IGTV.
